


Remy's Story

by Reader88



Series: The Utopian Knights [10]
Category: School of Rock (2003), The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian - Sherman Alexie
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-02
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2018-02-07 04:40:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1885443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reader88/pseuds/Reader88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remy Beaumont is a Métis boy growing up on an Aboriginal reserve in Ontario, Cananda. The future never looks good for Native-Canadians but Remy has dreams of becoming a musician. His father teaches him how to play the guitar and Remy is given a chance at his dream when his family moves to Illinois.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I imagine Remy Beaumont looking like Spotted Eagle, who was played by Caesar Ramirez in the "Little House on the Prairie" episode, "Injun Kid."

The wilderness in Ontario, Canada is nothing less than spectacular. From the tundra in the north to the Great Lakes in the south, Ontario supports a diverse selection of flora and fauna. Many people come to the wilderness to hike and camp. Some make money hunting, trapping, fishing, mining, or cutting down lumber. Some people live out there. Even though they usually enjoy it they live there because they don't have a choice. Several reserves have been set up to house the Aboriginal peoples who live in Canada.

Rémy Louis Beaumont was born on March 21st, 1975 on an Aboriginal reserve in Ontario. There are several Aboriginal groups in Canada. Remy's family were of the Métis people. They could trace their ancestry and heritage to First Nations and European descent. Specifically, Algonquin and French roots. Remy's father, Anatole, worked as a park warden on a nature reserve located several kilometres from the Aboriginal reserve. Remy's mother, Natalie Beaumont, worked at the Aboriginal reserve's postal office. Anatole Beaumont worked long hours at the nature reserve although he, the other Natives, blacks, and Asians who worked there were paid much less than the white people. Natalie's job as a postal worker didn't bring in a lot of cash either.

Remy would often hear his parents and other grown-ups rant and rave about the injustices that the Natives had to endure. "It all started when that Christopher Columbus sailed here," ranted Anatole. "He claims this land for Spain and then sees that there are already people living here. He thinks we're just a bunch of savages and decides to enslave us and force us to be Christians. The Europeans explained it was all for our own good. Some died from hard labour although most of us died from smallpox, measles, typhus, and other diseases that the white men brought. They took our land, our freedom, our culture, our lives. Now look at how low we've fallen."

Remy had also heard about the residential schools. Both of his parents and most of the adults had been enrolled in them when they were kids. They were forced to cut their long hair, give up their Native cultures, and were to begin the assimilation into white society. Anatole said the only thing he had learned there was how to get his ass whooped. If the kids spoke their Native languages or did anything "Injun" then they were beaten, usually very severely. Anatole had learned how to play the guitar thanks to a kind teacher. After graduation, Anatole didn't fit in with his tribe anymore and he couldn't get a job in the city. So he had moved to the Ontario country, bought a vintage black Gibson electric guitar, and formed a band with some other musically talented men. Their gigs were infrequent but the extra money helped put food on the table. Natalie had terrible memories about her residential school. She was molested and raped by teachers and other staff members. Several children fell ill because of the lack of good food and medical care and the countless abuse they suffered. Several children died, most from suicide. Since Natalie's residential school was so far away from her reservation she was never allowed to visit her parents during the summer. She never saw her parents again when she was sent to the residential school at the age of six and when she was ten she learned they had died as a result of a cholera outbreak. Natalie still suffered from nightmares of her school experiences but Anatole and/or Remy were always there to comfort her. There was an elementary, junior high, and high school on Remy's reserve for the children so they didn't need to worry about being sent away to residential schools. But it was run by white people from Canada's Department of Aboriginal Affairs who didn't bother to teach the children about their heritage. A community centre was built on the reserve and it was used for general meetings and special classes to teach the children about their heritage. Despite the fact that residential schools were run by hypocritical Christians, there was also a Roman Catholic Church on the reserve. Remy and his parents practiced Christianity and traditional indigenous beliefs. Growing up on the reserve Remy's best subjects in school were music, science, and French. At the community centre he also learned to speak French Cree, the language of the Métis people.

Remy started practicing his dad's guitar when he was five and when his father saw how good he was he bought him a wooden acoustic guitar to practice on. Remy was determined to make it in music and after all, "Practice makes perfect."


	2. Chapter 2

Remy loved the forest. It was the best thing about living on the reserve. He would venture there every chance he got. He climbed trees, swam in the lake, observed animals roaming wild, and just lay down in the meadow to watch the clouds. However, when he got home you could see the signs of poverty. The small, one-storey houses looked shoddy, cheap, and grim. There were power lines attached to the houses but the electricity would sometimes fail and the people were used to blackouts. No one had bothered to build pipes on the reserve so there was no running water. People usually got their water from the lakes and rivers. Canada was famous for its freshwater supply. The kids went to school in run-down buildings that were close to falling down. All the teachers were white since no Native on the reserve had a teaching degree. Remy remembered that his mother had tried to apply to college so that she could become a teacher but they rejected her application. "They took one look at my red skin and they decided they didn't want me," explained Natalie. Canada was a two-tiered system based on race and the Natives were at the bottom.

Some Natives had decided to leave their reserves and found work in the cities. Most Natives worked low-income, blue-collar jobs but they were still better than nothing. They lived in houses that had electricity and running water 24/7 as long as they paid their bills. Sometimes they attended college after high school but not that many could afford to attend a major university. The few who could studied law, medicine, engineering, science, history, and a variety of other subjects. There were several other minority groups in Canada: the African-Canadians, the Asian-Canadians, and the French-Canadians. Remy knew these minorities had also suffered as well. Even though black slavery was mostly associated with the United States, white Canadians had practiced it as well until it was abolished in 1834. Asian-Canadians were kept locked up in internment camps during WWII because the government believed they were spies. Canada had passed previous laws abolishing the teaching of French in schools. The French-Canadians were looked down on and they created Quebec, a province where French culture thrived.

Remy wondered if Native-Canadians could change things. During Black History Month Remy had learned about Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and other black leaders who had helped bring about equality and freedom for blacks. Remy had also read about famous Native leaders such as Louis Riel, who was a leader of the Métis. However, equal rights for the Natives had yet to be achieved.

Remy liked school because he liked to learn. He also looked forward to seeing his best friends, Lenny and Gaston. Lenny was always angry and was always getting into fights. Gaston suffered from diabetes and always carried insulin. When Remy was in the third grade every student received a battered copy of _Science 101_. When Remy opened the cover it said on the first page in bold letters:  **Alex Taylor**. Alex was Lenny's father, which meant that Lenny's father had read this book when he attended this school over twenty years ago! Remy was so angry that he and his friends were being forced to use second-hand textbooks that he threw the book across the room and it hit his teacher right on the face!

Mr. Z, Remy's teacher at the time, told Remy sternly while blood was gushing from his nose, "Mr. Beaumont, the principal's office, NOW!"

Remy was suspended from school for a week. The most his parents could do was tell him to stay inside the house and do his chores, but since they were both working they didn't have a lot of time to enforce Remy's punishment. Remy practiced on his guitar or climbed trees. One day Mr. Z stopped by Remy's house and told him he wanted to talk to him. Remy rolled his eyes and thought he was getting another lecture.

Remy and Mr. Z sat in the kitchen and Mr. Z told Remy, "I'm glad you threw that textbook at my face."

Remy was so surprised that the only thing he could say was, "Are you high or drunk?"

Mr. Z said, "I'm one hundred percent sober. Remy, I deserved to be hit by that textbook because of the living hell that my race has forced your race to live in."

Remy said, "Okay..."

Mr. Z explained, "Life on this reserve is a big dead end. The farther away you get from this reserve, the more hope you'll encounter." Remy thought this over and realized that the reserve was a really sorry place to live. He went to bed hungry plenty of nights, the electricity was always going out, the houses had no running water, in winter the Natives suffered from the cold and in the summer from the heat and flies. Mr. Z told him, "All the adults and most of your friends have already given up hope. Remy, you're a very bright and cheerful boy. Don't let this reserve beat it out of you." Remy realized Mr. Z was right; he had to get off this reserve.

Remy dedicated his life to music. Anatole's band, The Red Notes, mostly played rock music. Anatole loved all types of rock music. Remy loved rock as well and sampled from the same guitarists as his father. Chuck Berry, B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, but Remy's absolute favourite was Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. He was the first guitarist to make use of overdriven amplifiers with high volume and gain, guitar amplifier feedback, the wah-wah pedal, and stereophonic phasing. Remy loved watching live concerts of rock musicians smashing their instruments, striking chords like crazy, running around like they were possessed by demons. Remy wanted to be that good.


	3. Chapter 3

Remy loved nature. The forest on the reserve took on a different face all year round.

During the autumn all the leaves would be painted red, gold, orange, and brown. Chestnuts, acorns, and apples would fall from the trees. Canada geese, ducks, loons, and other birds would fly in V formations and head south for the winter. Remy would catch final glances of Grizzly bears before they retreated into their caves for hibernation. Adults also started to stock up on wood, food, oil, blankets, and warm clothes for the winter months.

In the winter everything was covered in a blanket of white. Icicles would hang from trees like ornaments and the lake would like it had just been buffed and polished since there was a nice layer of ice on it. But as soon as the boys put on their skates the lake didn't look so polished anymore. The boys loved playing hockey since it was Canada's national sport. They would pretend to be famous hockey players such as Lionel Conacher, "Rocket Richard," and The Great One, Wayne Gretzky. Remy's favourite team were the Toronto Maple Leafs. Winter was also a tough time for the Natives since the electricity went out often so there wasn't a lot of heat. Families huddled together to keep warm but a lot of people died from exposure to the cold. Canada had a notorious reputation for its cold weather but only people who could afford heat could last through the winter.

In springtime things felt like fresh beginnings. The snow melted leaving behind patches of green. Leaves would start to sprout and flowers would begin to bloom. Animals woke up from hibernation or returned from migration. The forest was also bustling with newborn babies. Remy would wear his spring jacket and climb the trees, skip stones near the lake, or catch raindrops on his tongue. He would splash in the puddles and get mud all over himself.

Summertime was the best time of the whole year. Vacation began which meant no more book reports, math tests, or geography assignments. Remy would climb trees, pick fruits like plums and cherries, swim in the lake, hike in the forest, and have picnics in the meadow with his friends and family. At times like these, life was good.

That all changed in 1986 when Remy turned eleven. The previous year Anatole had told his family, "The organization that runs the nature reserve is planning to open up a new one in Illinois. They want to me to move out there to help with the process. After a year they'll see how well everything goes. Then they'll ask me to stay on full-time or we can move back to Canada." It took a while for the news to sink in but Remy realized, "We're MOVING!"


	4. Chapter 4

Moving involves a lot of paperwork. Their new house in the Illinois country, immigration reports, the list was endless. They didn't have much to pack so putting everything in boxes and transferring them to a U-Haul was no problem. The hardest part for Remy was saying good-bye to his friends and his home. He'd have to say good-bye to the forest, the trees, the plants, the animals, the lake, the meadow, the endless seasons. Remy's friends asked him what life would be like in the USA.

"It probably won't be as cold as there as it is here."

"The only reason they have a bigger population than us is because they have California and Florida while we have the Yukon and the Northwest Territories."

"They use different units of measurement there. They use Fahrenheit instead of Celsius and they measure in inches instead of centimetres."

"Wait until you take geography classes at your new school. You have to remember the names of fifty states!"

The chatter went on and on. Even though Remy told Mr. Z that he and his family were leaving the reserve, Mr. Z wasn't totally satisfied. Mr. Z said, "You'll be the only Indian boy in an all-white area. If you want to be somebody in this world then you need to get out of the country and into the city."

Soon the U-Haul was packed, the paperwork was done and Pierre had gassed up his Cadillac to drive the Beaumonts to Illinois. The family got in, said good-bye to their friends and home, and were soon driving away. Remy had been off the reserve plenty of times. Sometimes he visited the nature reserve his father worked at and sometimes he went with his father when his band got gigs at different reservations and cities across Ontario. They'd even performed in Toronto nightclubs. Toronto was a huge city. Full of noise, pollution, and people from every corner of the world. Canada had been accepting immigrants from several countries such as Nigeria, Jamaica, India, Afghanistan, Australia, China, and many more. Many ethnic groups had chosen to call Canada their home. Remy admired that but wondered why Canada immediately gave food, shelter, and jobs to ethnic strangers while the Aboriginals, who had been living on this land since the last Ice Age, were forced to live on reserves with little food, water, sanitation, or healthcare.

Remy remembered that when he visited other reservations the other children looked at him like he was a kind of alien. He remembered when a boy came up to him and asked, "You're a member of the Métis tribe, right?"

Remy replied, "Yes."

The boy said, "That means you have the blood of our enemies running through your veins."

Remy replied, "I don't see it like that. I have the blood of two great cultures running through my veins: the Natives and the Europeans."

Another girl said, "You can't be half and half. You're either one or the other. You're not a Native or a white person. You're nothing at all!" The other children laughed but Remy ignored them and walked away.

When Remy visited Toronto with his father, a white boy came to him and asked him, "Are you an Injun?"

Remy replied, "I'm not an Indian, I'm an Aboriginal or Native-Canadian. More specifically, I'm Métis."

The white boy ignored him and said, "Did you know Injuns are proof that niggers fuck buffalo?"

The boy was laughing while he said that and Remy punched him. POW! Right on the nose. The boy was crying on the sidewalk while blood was squirting out of his nose. The white boy's parents and Remy's father came and asked, "What's going on?"

The white boy cried, "I was just minding my own business when that Injun kid came out of nowhere and attacked me. You know how violent Injuns can be."

Anatole asked his son, "Remy, is that true?" Remy said, "No, Dad." Then he explained what happened.

Anatole repeated, "So we're the result of niggers fucking buffalo?" He turned to the white boy and said, "Listen up, smart alack. I don't know where you learned that racist comment but I'm not going to make my son apologize for standing up for himself, his people, blacks, and buffaloes, ya hear?"

The white boy's father said, "Slow down, sir. All you Aboriginals seem to have anger issues. I remember one Injun I knew who threw a fit just because I was having some fun with a lion at the Toronto Zoo. What's up with you Injuns and animals?"

The man didn't get to say anything more because Anatole was busy punching him. A group of bystanders had to pull them apart and then they called for an ambulance. The two men didn't have any major injuries and after they were cleaned and bandaged up they left. Remy wondered if it would ever be possible to get through to people like that white boy and his father.

Soon they came to Lake St. Clair. They decided to stay in a motel for the night even though it was just an excuse to see the beautiful lake. There were several tourists there since the people loved the beach. Remy's parents got him dinner at a local diner. Remy dined on mashed potatoes with gravy, some green beans, and a tofu steak. Remy loved animals so much that he had decided to become a vegetarian. The very thought of meat disgusted him.

The next day they drove across the border into the USA. There were two more days of driving before they got to Illinois. They drove through the country and soon came to their new house. It was a log cabin. It looked neat and more sturdy than the houses on the reserve. It had power lines, so there was electricity, and an outhouse. An outhouse wasn't as cool as indoor plumbing, but it was a step up from the chair with a hole in the seat that used to be the Beaumonts' toilet.

The USA was different from Canada. Since they had power Remy watched TV. When he saw the weather the weather guy would say, "And we're seeing 60 degrees Fahrenheit for the city of Chicago." Remy had learned from his parents how to convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius. You subtract 32 and divide by 1.8. Remy got out his calculator and figured out that 60 degrees Fahrenheit was the same as 15 degrees Celsius. He wasn't doing very well in math at school because of the measurement unit. The USA didn't use the Metric System and instead measured things with inches, feet, yards, and miles.

His parents were too busy working to help him so he had to ask for a tutor. Most of the white kids hated Remy because he was an "Injun." When he arrived in class on his first day of school the teacher told him to sit in any one of the empty chairs. Then a white boy said, "He's an Injun. He can sit on the floor." All the kids laughed and Remy's teacher gave the white boy detention. For the rest of the school year the white kids called him names like "Sitting Bull," "Tonto," "Chief," "Squaw Boy," and "Red-Skin." Remy got in plenty of fights but he won most of them and soon some white kids learned to leave him alone. On the reserve all the Métis children hated white people even though they had white folks' blood in their veins. The white kids from the rich farm town competed against the Métis children in everything. And the Métis always lost. Hockey matches, talent shows, academic competitions. Those white kids were magnificent, beautiful, and full of hope. Remy wished that someday he could be like that; not a racist jerk, but someone who saw the world as his oyster. A cute girl with brown hair named Amy volunteered to tutor Remy. She smiled at him a lot and made Remy blush. She helped him pass math and in return Remy took her on hikes into the forest. He taught her how to feed birds and squirrels, how to climb trees, and how to identify plants. Who knows how far their relationship would have gone if it weren't for "the Accident."

Remy's parents had left for a forest rangers convention in New York State. On the return trip they took a bush plane with a Native who had somehow managed to get a pilot's license. They didn't have to go through security which was a big mistake. If they had the security guards would have noticed how woozy the pilot was. If they had taken a blood or urine test from him they would have known that the pilot had drunk five bottles of beer before arriving at the airport. Remy was sleeping over at Amy's house when he heard the news. Amy's mother said, "Remy, I need to tell you something."


	5. Chapter 5

"Just fly my parents back to the reserve. They lived there most of their lives and I'm sure they would be happy to be buried in Canadian soil." That's what Remy had told the funeral directors. They still organized a reception to honour his parents shortly after the plane crash. Even though the Beaumonts had been living in Illinois for a few months the residents had nothing but good things to say about them.

"Anatole loved rock music. He always put on classic rock records by Little Richard and Chuck Berry."

"Natalie had a wonderful smile and an infectious laugh. She had a great sense of humour. I'm going to miss her."

"Me, too," added Remy. Several people hugged him and said they were sorry, so sorry. But Remy soon ignored their acts of sympathy. He knew they meant well but he just wanted to be alone.

Remy went outside into the cool night air. He had been to dozens of funerals since he was a little boy. Natives had a life expectancy ten years below the Canadian standard. Most died from illness since they were too far away from doctors, others from exposure to the cold in the winter. But most died alcohol-related deaths. Remy's friend Gaston had lost his aunt and uncle in a car accident because the uncle was driving drunk. Another girl had lost her older sister because she had set her house on fire by accident after getting drunk with her boyfriend. Remy's mother was an alcoholic and Remy couldn't blame her since it helped her escape her dead end life. There were only about seven people on the reserve who didn't drink and Remy's father was one of them. However, Remy swore right then and there that he would never drink. Ever. Tears started rolling down his face because it had suddenly hit him that he was alone in the world. He kept on crying until Amy came out and sat with him. He cried on her shoulder and she let him while she patted his back.

There was no foster home or orphanage in the country so social services decided to move him to South Side Chicago. A social worker named Luke explained, "I know the South Side might seem scary from what you see on the news but it's not as scary as most people think. There will be plenty of kids your age for you to play with. Big Mama loves kids and will take great care of you."

Remy listened and wondered what it would be like to live in the city. He remembered Toronto. It was a nice place to visit but he wouldn't want to live there. Too many noises, too many people, a lot of pollution, and not enough trees.

In no time Luke had driven Remy to the South Side. There were crumbling apartment buildings, graffiti-stained walls, kids selling crack. This neighbourhood seemed a step-up from the reserve. They soon drove through a street of small, one-story houses and drove through the white-picket fence of a big house. Luke parked in the driveway alongside a VW minivan, a VW minibus, and a Pontiac.

Luke pressed the doorbell and a large black woman opened the door and warmly said, "Hi. Is this the Indian boy we're expecting?"

Remy corrected her, "Ma'am, the correct term is Native or Aboriginal. My family are Métis. We trace our ancestry to First Nations and European descent." Big Mama smiled and Remy thought,  _This place might not be so bad._


	6. Chapter 6

Chicago was very different from the country. It was noisy, even at night, suffered a lot of air pollution from the steel mills and factories, and a lot of the neighbourhood kids got into trouble because of gangs and drug dealing. The adults in this neighbourhood also drank alcohol or smoked crack to escape their trouble. But there were plenty of upsides. Remy would often visit the park. There were plenty of trees to climb and lots of birds and squirrels to feed. He also visited the Lincoln Park Zoo, which offered free admission. It had as many animals as the Toronto Zoo. Remy loved his new bed in one of the boys' rooms. It was more soft and comfortable than his old lumpy mattress on the reservation and his bed in the Illinois country. There was electricity available 24/7 as long as Big Mama and the other adults paid the bills. The electricity used to go down in the Illinois country and the outhouse was just as disgusting as the Beaumonts' old "toilet" in Canada. Remy couldn't stop smiling when he saw the bathroom. There were toilets, sinks, bathtubs, and showers. No more walking down to the lake and lighting a fire under a bucket just so he could take a warm bath. No more pissing in the slop pail and having to be told to empty it out. There was also plenty of food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Remy had usually eaten stale, expired food given to the residents on the reserve. Usually Remy would forage for food in the forest or his family went to bed hungry.

But the best part came when Remy took out his wooden guitar and began to play a song. A boy named Tevin came to him and complimented him. "You sound good, real good. Wanna practice downstairs?"

Remy went down the stairs with Tevin to the basement and saw Tevin's musical equipment. Tevin handed Remy a 1976 Les Paul Custom Wine Red guitar and said, "Show me what you can really do." Remy then started playing the guitar melody from Hendrix's "Purple Haze." Tevin soon sang along:

 _"Purple Haze was in my brain,_  
_lately things don't seem the same,_  
_actin' funny but I don't know why_  
_'scuse me while I kiss the sky._

 _Purple Haze all around,_  
_don't know if I'm coming up or down._  
_Am I happy or in misery?_  
_Whatever it is, that girl put a spell on me._

 _Purple Haze was in my eyes,_  
_don't know if it's day or night,_  
_you've got me blowing, blowing my mind_  
_is it tomorrow or just the end of time?"_

Remy also played "Crosstown Traffic" while Tevin sang along:

 _"You jump in front of my car when you,_  
_you know all the time_  
_Ninetymiles an hour, girl, is the speed I drive_  
_You tell me it's alright, you don't mind a little pain_  
_You say you just want me to take you for a drive_

 _You're just like crosstown traffic_  
_So hard to get through to you_  
_Crosstown traffic_  
_I don't need to run over you_  
_Crosstown traffic_  
_All you do is slow me down_  
_And I'm tryin' to get on the other side of town"_

Tevin smiled and said, "Man, you got real talent. Want to keep playing music? We could even start a band. If we work hard we might make a lot of money. Might even get to live in a fancy mansion."

Remy replied, "That would be a real step-up from the reserve. I'm in!"

"Great! Let me get some sheet music so that we can start practicing."

Remy sat down and thought,  _Don't worry Mom and Dad. I'm not spending my whole life on a reserve. I'm going to do something with my music. And it looks like I have a friend who will help me._ Then Remy sat back and played a blues melody.


End file.
